


Of Brothers, Kidnappings, and Insomnia

by Mademoisellesnowflake



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 04:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14011842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mademoisellesnowflake/pseuds/Mademoisellesnowflake
Summary: After being rescued from unnamed kindappers, Aramis doesn't sleep. Athos and Porthos try to handle it.





	Of Brothers, Kidnappings, and Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> A wild story appears! There's no background to it except I did some brainstorming with Miuku on tumblr chat and this happened :"D I hope you'll be able to enjoy it!

Aramis felt cold. There was no feeling in his hands anymore – he couldn’t remember how long he’d been tied up. His hands were cuffed over his head with chains so that he was dangling from them, his knees barely touching the floor. He couldn’t see a thing – the room he was kept in had no windows or if it had, they had been nailed shut so tight that no light could come in. He hadn’t slept in all the time he’d been in the room – had it been hours? Or perhaps already days or even a week?

He was so tired.

The men were in and out of the room, demanding to know something about the royal family that Aramis didn’t know; he was barely allowed into the palace, especially because he still wasn’t dealing with everything that had happened at Savoy. Treville didn’t want Aramis having a flashback in front of all the nobles and the king; it would be a disgrace to the musketeers. Aramis himself was only happy that he didn’t have to see the annoying nobles since he was much happier helping the normal people out in the city. The merchants, the maids, the people who were doing their daily activities were those Aramis wanted to help.

He found himself distantly hoping that someone would save him. Porthos surely would have understood that something was wrong and tried to start looking for Aramis. Athos too, perhaps, as he and Aramis had become great friends after the initial dislike.

However, Treville might not want the two to look for Aramis. After all it was a musketeer’s job to die protecting the crown – maybe Treville knew Aramis had been kidnapped by someone who wanted to hurt the royal family.

He just wanted to sleep.

As the door opened, Aramis looked up at the figure (two figures?) walking into the room. He let out a shaky breath as he realised he would be beaten again by the men who were holding him captive for something he knew absolutely nothing about.

“For the last time, I know nothing you’re interested in”, Aramis rasped shakily. “You’re wasting your time with me.”

There was a sound of a sword slashing through someone and Aramis could smell blood. Aramis inhaled sharply as he wondered what new method of torture the men who held him were going to use to get the information Aramis didn’t have.

“It’s him, Porthos”, said a soft voice. Athos’ voice, Aramis realised as he felt someone grabbing his hands. Suddenly the boards that had blocked the sunlight were ripped away from the windows by Porthos. Aramis could see Athos’ stony expression as he opened the shackles that held Aramis’ wrists. As Aramis slumped forwards to Athos’ waiting arms, Athos told Porthos to stay with Aramis. Athos himself stood up, leaving the room without a word.

“Thank god we found you alive”, Porthos mumbled as he hugged Aramis. “I was so worried. God, I’m so happy that we found you, Aramis.”

Aramis let out a shaky breath and nodded as he leaned his forehead on Porthos’ shoulder. He was so relieved, so happy that he’d been found. That someone still cared even though he’d failed them all so many times already.

That it was Porthos and Athos who cared.

Suddenly Aramis could hear sounds of fighting. He looked up at the ceiling when he heard men shouting and sounds of bodies hitting the floor. For a moment his mind told him to get up and fight, to protect his brothers dying in the woods.

The feeling was over as suddenly as it had started. He was back at the dark room he had been held in, with Porthos holding his arms and talking to him quietly. There were no more shouts, no more sound of bodies falling down.

Athos had killed them all.

“Oh god”, Aramis breathed as Porthos pulled him into another hug. “Was that really necessary?”

“I think it was, to Athos at least”, Porthos mumbled into Aramis’ hair. “He was furious when he realised you’d been kidnapped and possibly hurt.”

“Why would he worry about me?” Aramis asked, laughing softly. “I’m not that important.”

“To us you are”, Porthos whispered so quietly that Aramis only barely heard it. He slowly helped Aramis up just in time for Athos to arrive and see the two standing. For a moment, Athos only stood at the door, eyeing the two and then he walked to them, pulling Aramis into another hug.

“Can you walk?” Athos asked. “We’re near to Paris; only an hour’s ride or so. We need to get you looked at.”

“Just give me a moment”, Aramis whispered. He would ride back to Paris on his own as soon as he’d caught his breath. He wouldn’t be weak again; he would give no one a reason to think he could be kidnapped again. No one would look at him and think he was weak.

He was going to be strong, so his brothers would not have to worry about him.

* * *

 

It had been a few days since Aramis’ rescue and Athos and Porthos could see their friend was not well. He wasn’t eating much and the dark circles under his eyes clearly told that he wasn’t sleeping much either. He could barely focus on his duties and the only reason why Treville hadn’t done anything yet was that he knew that part of Aramis’ exhaustion stemmed from Savoy.

It had been going on for long enough. They needed to do something.

During the evening meal which the three had decided to eat at the garrison, Serge kept talking to Aramis, even managing to make him chuckle softly with his jokes. Porthos smiled a little when he saw that Aramis ate everything Serge had given him, no doubt wanting to make the cook happy.

After the meal, Athos and Porthos sat with Aramis. At first no one said anything.

“Are you alright?” Porthos asked quietly. “You look tired and we know you haven’t been eating much.”

“I… I can’t sleep”, Aramis whispered, avoiding Porthos’ eyes. “When it gets too dark, I’m not sure where I am…and sometimes I return to the room they kept me in. You two shouldn’t worry about me; I’ll be fine as soon as I catch some sleep, I’m sure…”

“And when will you catch that sleep?” Athos asked quietly. “You’re shaking, and I can tell that you can’t focus on anything.”

“I…don’t know”, Aramis breathed. His expression was empty, devoid of any hope and happiness that usually were visible on Aramis’ face. He was swaying a little, probably because he was so tired he couldn’t quite hold himself upright.

Porthos shook his head and, with one graceful movement, pulled Aramis into his arms, safe from the world and impending darkness of the night. Aramis shuddered, grabbed Porthos’ doublet and let out a soft, damp sigh. Porthos brought his hand up to Aramis’ hair and began massaging his scalp, making Aramis shudder again even harder.

“You have to sleep”, Athos said. “We can stay with you tonight. You won’t have to be alone if you feel like it’s too much right now.”

“Please”, Aramis whispered. Porthos realised he must have been exhausted to the bone if he couldn’t even pretend he was alright anymore. “The darkness in my room is too much; I can’t sleep there alone. Not right now. Not when I still feel like I’m _there_ and not here…”

“We’ll stay with you”, Porthos said, squeezing Aramis’ shoulders. “We’ll protect you.”

Aramis nodded shakily as Porthos helped him stand up. Athos followed the two as they walked to Aramis’ room, so Aramis could finally rest even a little. As Porthos opened the door to Aramis’ unlit room, Aramis suddenly stopped walking, breathing a little harsher than usual.

“Athos?” Porthos asked quietly. “Could you go light up a few candles in there? I think it would be easier for Aramis to go there if there was a little bit of light inside.”

“Sure”, Athos said as he walked inside and took out a few candles from the chest and then lit them. He placed them on the desk so that they lit up the room enough to see that it wasn’t the terrible place Aramis had been held in. Aramis visibly relaxed and finally stepped into the room.

“Is it the dark that’s the worst?” Porthos asked. “Or the fact that you’re alone?”

“I’m not sure”, Aramis said softly as he began unstrapping his belts. His hands were shaking as he finally managed to take off the belts and begin unstrapping his sash. “Maybe it’s the dark because I don’t know when it’ll end. But then again it might be the fact that I’m alone and I can’t tell if the men are coming back. I…I don’t really know.”

“It’s alright”, Athos said firmly as he pulled Aramis into yet another hug. When he released Aramis from the hug, he realised that tears had gathered into Aramis’ eyes and had begun falling. Aramis tried to wipe away his tears before taking off his doublet and boots and sitting on the edge of the bed. He buried his head in his hands, trembling only a little as he sniffled quietly.

Porthos and Athos quietly shed their doublets and boots and sat on both sides of Aramis. Athos began tugging Aramis’ shoulders, so he would lie down on the bed in between Athos and Porthos. Athos propped himself between the wall and Aramis, still holding onto Aramis as Porthos lay down as well, on the other side of Aramis.

“It’s alright, Aramis”, Porthos whispered. “We’re here now.”

Porthos pressed a kiss on top of Aramis’ head and wrapped his arms around Aramis’ shoulders. Aramis’ face was pressed into Porthos’ chest as Porthos hummed a song neither Aramis or Athos could recognise.

“You really should sleep”, Athos said quietly. “We’re here with you. You don’t need to be afraid; we’ll keep you safe.”

“I’ll try”, Aramis whispered, his nose stuffed from the tears. “I… I don’t know what brought this on.”

“You were exhausted”, Porthos said, smiling at Aramis. “It’s completely natural.”

Aramis nodded and pressed his forehead against Porthos’ shoulder. He closed his eyes and soon sleep had taken him. Porthos smiled proudly and kissed the top of Aramis’ head again. Aramis sighed softly and tried to wriggle even closer to Porthos.

“He’s safe now”, Athos mumbled, smiling at Aramis. “He’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep and if not, we’ll just sleep here one more night.”

“Where’d you learn to be a good brother like that?” Porthos asked, still smiling fondly at Aramis.

One day, he would find out.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always much appreciated!


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